THE REPUBLICANS: THE CONVENTION IN NEW YORK -- THE MAYOR

THE REPUBLICANS: THE CONVENTION IN NEW YORK -- THE MAYOR; The Applause Is Polite for Bloomberg, Content to Be in the Shadow of His Predecessor

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER

Published: August 31, 2004

Over the course of 10 minutes yesterday afternoon, delegates to the Republican National Convention saw three New York City mayors walk through the room, and the one who attracted the least attention was the one who is actually in office.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, welcoming the half-empty room of delegates yesterday morning, gave a short speech that seemed cribbed from the tourism office brochures, boasting of the city's new 45,000 private-sector jobs, its clean streets and its fine eating establishments.

At one point, the cameras turned away from Mr. Bloomberg altogether to focus on another mayor in the crowd, Rudolph W. Giuliani. After Mr. Bloomberg accepted his light smattering of polite applause and faded behind stage, Mr. Giuliani stormed through the hall, taking pictures with well-wishers and holding forth for eager reporters.

While Mayor Bloomberg was warmly received by delegates, Mr. Giuliani, who gave one of the final speeches yesterday, was embraced with red-hot passion, cheered loudly by delegates wherever he went, trailed by breathless television reporters and honored by groups whose parties he sometimes does not even have time to attend.

If Mr. Bloomberg is overshadowed by his most recent predecessor, he does not seem to mind. The mayor has spent the first 48 hours of the convention week trying as hard as he can to be nonideological, if not totally apolitical. Even a Democratic predecessor who turned up to speak at the convention, former Mayor Edward I. Koch, was more enthusiastically received during his address. (Just ask Mr. Bloomberg: when he called his own mother after speaking yesterday, she mentioned how good Mr. Koch was but had nothing to say about her son's performance.)

In his convention-week appearances so far, Mr. Bloomberg has rarely uttered the name of the president, rarely mentioned the attributes of his adopted party, and spent much of his time running to things that have nothing to do with politics, like a shopping spree at Macy's with delegates. When he talked about the convention, it was almost exclusively as it related to the city as its host, not the party that is its guest.

The events he attached his name to were for groups that are on the fringe of the party -- like ones sponsored by the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay group that has not even endorsed the president, and the Republican Majority for Choice, a group that supports abortion rights.

By contrast, Mr. Giuliani has been relentlessly partisan since the delegates first arrived, saying little about what the convention means to New York City, and much about why he thinks Mr. Bush should be re-elected. When not on the convention floor, the former mayor has been spotted at a rally on Ellis Island with Vice President Dick Cheney and a luncheon for a charity serving families of slain soldiers.

While Mr. Bloomberg's opening remarks focused on the host city, Mr. Giuliani's speech hewed carefully to the G.O.P. script that focuses on the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

And perhaps most tellingly, while Mr. Giuliani, long a supporter of abortion and gay rights, was to be honored by both the gay Republicans and the Republican Majority for Choice, he skipped the party held by the gay group, and will not attend the cocktail party tonight held by the group that supports abortion rights.

Both recent and distant history suggest these two men's roles are natural. ''The current mayor is the host, playing the traditional role at the convention,'' said Steven Cohen, a professor of public administration at Columbia University. ''Rudy Giuliani is for the Republican Party their hero of 9/11. ''

Yesterday, Mr. Bloomberg was gracious and welcoming, if less at ease than usual on his national stage. The mayor, who is prone to gaffes in speeches, said, ''On Independence Day, Governor Pataki and I laid the tombstone for the Freedom Tower at the site of the World Trade Center,'' when he clearly meant cornerstone.

There was little response to his many lines celebrating New York for its diversity and dreamers. The thunderous applause came only when the mayor praised President Bush ''for leading the global war on terrorism.''

Mr. Bloomberg seemed most at home during his brief remarks when giving his personal tourism tip.

''At least one morning while you're here,'' he said, ''begin the day with a ride on the ferry to Staten Island. Out there in the harbor, you'll glide past the Statue of Liberty, the beacon of freedom that America holds out to people everywhere. It's guaranteed to bring a lump to your throat, because you'll be looking at New York the way generations of new Americans have.''

Photo: Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg welcomed Republican delegates to Madison Square Garden yesterday morning, in the mostly nonpartisan role of Mr. New York, the host of the host city. (Photo by James Estrin/The New York Times)